Boys have risen to the challenge of an intense fight for jobs and university places by narrowing the gap with girls in maths and sciences, A-level results show.

Teenagers have continued to ditch so-called soft subjects to opt for more traditional ones favoured by employers and universities.

The number of entries for maths, biology, chemistry and physics have risen compared to last year by 7.8%, 7.2%, 9.2% and 6.1% respectively.

The rate of improvement in these subjects is higher for boys than for girls. The gap in performance between boys and girls at grade A in these subjects has reduced from 0.9 to 0.3 percentage points.

Boys also increased their share of A* grades. The number of A* grades issued to boys has risen from 7.9% last year to 8.2% this year, while for girls it fell to 8.2% from 8.3% last year.

Overall, 8.2% have achieved the A* grade – a 0.1 percentage point reduction on last year. To get the grade, candidates have to achieve 90% in their second year (A2) exams.

Andrew Hall, chief executive of the AQA exam board, says boys are beginning to recognise that they need to challenge girls for jobs and degree places. "Boys seem to have risen to this challenge this year," he says.

Ziggy Liaquat, managing director of the Excel exam board, says teenagers would have chosen their subjects at a time when "employers were crying out for people with maths and science skills".

Entries for critical thinking have fallen by 17.3% while those for general studies have fallen by 12.4% reflecting the fact that some universities do not accept these subjects as a condition of entry.

Languages continue to fade. Entries for German are down 6.9%, while those for French have fallen 4.7%. Spanish, which has risen in recent years, fell by 0.2%.

Hall says there is a "significant increase in science and maths" but modern foreign languages are in "long-term decline".

There is a surge in entries to do the extended project – a research project students undertake which is favoured by universities. Entries have risen by 51% this year.

David Willetts, the universities minister, says pupils who took traditional A-levels should take precedence in the race for university places. He says not all subjects should have the same value. Ucas allocates the same points for an A grade, regardless of subject.

In February, top universities issued guidance which acknowledged officially for the first time that they favoured traditional subjects over vocational ones, such as law.

The guide, compiled by the Russell Group of 20 top universities including Oxbridge, confirmed students who do not study at least two of the following subjects – maths, English, geography, history any of the three sciences and a classical or modern foreign language – are unlikely to get on to a degree in these places.

The overall pass rate has risen by 0.2 percentage points to 97.8%, but the proportion achieving A grades has stayed the same – 27%.